Sherrington: Displaced fans upset at Jerry Jones, NFL? Get in line

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Chris O'Meara/AP

A section of empty seats are seen at Cowboys Stadium before the NFL football Super Bowl XLV game between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011, in Arlington, Texas. The seats were deemed unsafe before the game. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Joe Udvari is a 64-year-old optometrist and Steelers season-ticket holder from Moon Township, Pa., outside Pittsburgh. On the phone, his tone is so soothing, if he’d suddenly asked me to read the next line on the chart, I’d have made up something.

He does not sound like the kind of guy who, as his wife, Susanne, put it, needed his 6-3, 230-pound son to “keep him from whacking” someone.

But this is what happens when NFL officials and Jerry Jones cap a week’s worth of natural disaster with a man-made one, all in the name of greed and hubris.

Joe bought a pair of tickets for $800 apiece. He and his 34-year-old son, Matt, who lives in Austin, drove in from Hillsboro and proceeded directly to section 439, row 25, seats 19 and 20.

Only it was cordoned off with police tape.

“You can’t go in,” an official said.

“Why not?”

“Leak in the roof. Some issue with ice and water.”

Joe and Matt were then directed to Gate F, where an attendant, without further explanation, told them they were to be compensated three times the face value of their tickets.

As a bonus, they could watch the game on TV.

“If I’d wanted to watch the game on TV,” Joe explained, “I’d have stayed at home.”

The attendant didn’t appreciate Joe’s logic and referred him to Gate A, where another attendant repeated the offer.

Joe turned to two cops.

“Either you help me,” he said, “or you’re going to have to take me off to jail.”

Next thing he knows, Joe and his son are downstairs accompanied by a nice man carrying an M16.

“Stay with me,” the man with the big gun said cheerily, “and don’t move anywhere.”

Finally, about 5 p.m., a half-hour before the game was to kick off, Joe received a text from a friend. Section 439 had opened. Just like that. No rebates. No police escort. No explanation.

Here’s your seat, just like nothing happened.

Joe and Matt were among the lucky ones. Eight hundred displaced fans were steered to different locations. Some ended up in suites. Others apparently inherited the seats of Cowboy s employees, who “volunteered” them. A few poor souls even got stuck in the press section.

According to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 400 others were either funneled to the Miller Lite Club, where they watched the game on TV, or wandered around the plazas.

Most of the displaced fans lost their seats because Arlington’s fire marshal deemed them unsafe. Either no handrails were in place, or the seats weren’t secure. Roger Goodell said there was no excuse, and he got that right. He also promised an investigation and said the 400 would be the NFL’s guests at next year’s Super Bowl.

Of course, not everyone goes to a Super Bowl to be seen in Jerry’s suite. Some are working stiffs. One Packers fan sold his snowmobile to come up with the cash. He should have driven it to Arlington instead.

Anyway, the fact is that many fans actually go to a Super Bowl to support one team or the other. Go figure. And next year, there’s no guarantee the Steelers or Packers will be back.

On the bright side, Jerry and the NFL won’t be trying to stuff a stadium in Indianapolis, either. Or at least we hope not.

After a long day of silence, the Cowboys issued a statement at 5 p.m. Monday sharing responsibility for the screw-up. Jerry also apologized that 400 fans were “impacted by this error.”

“Impacted” is probably not how Jennifer Dunfee would put it.

The 23-year-old Steelers fan, who paid $2,200 for her ticket, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “I’m ready to punch someone in the face.”

Jerry has that effect on people, as Joe Udvari will attest. The soft-spoken optometrist didn’t want to leave the wrong impression. He had a great time otherwise. The stadium was beautiful. Texans in general were wonderful. The cops were great. Especially the one with the M16.

He said he simply had a problem with the NFL and Jerry. Get in line, Joe. It’s a lot longer than 400, too.

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